Parish Magazinemagazine
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
PARISHPARISH MAGAZINEMAGAZINE AUGUSTAUGUST // SEPTEMBERSEPTEMBER 20192019 Serving the communities of: Christleton, Cotton Abbotts, Cotton Edmunds, Littleton and Rowton. The Christleton Fete took place on Sat 29th June, and St James’ Church was there with a stand and with Messy Church activities. The Annual Flower Service—Sun 14th July … at the Fete … at the Show Alf’s award winning personas! - 1 - PARISH CONTACTS: MAGAZINE: RECTOR: EDITOR: Rev'd Dr Stefan Collier Tel: 01244 335663 The editor is: Brian Inall [email protected] Tel: 01244 336500 [email protected] (Day off is normally Thursday) Deadline for submissions for the October magazine will OTHER CLERGY IN THE PARISH: be: Monday 16th September. Rev'd Gill Hibbert Tel: 01244 336544 [email protected] COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING: Rev'd Elizabeth Inall Tel: 01244 336500 John Eccles [email protected] Tel: 01244 336355 [email protected] PARISH ADMINISTRATOR, PCC SECRETARY & HALL BOOKINGS: DISTRIBUTION & SUBSCRIPTIONS Janet Milton Tel: 01244 325529 Joce Platel For the PCC, the weekly notices and initial Tel: 01244 332466 enquiries for weddings, funerals, baptisms: [email protected] [email protected] For Parish Hall bookings: The Magazine subscription is currently £6 per year [email protected] (renewal is in April) with copies delivered to your home, or pick up from church. Please check with us CHURCHWARDENS: whether your home is on one of our delivery routes. If Bettie Gilliatt Tel: 01244 335645 you don't subscribe you are invited to buy individual Tina Lightfoot Tel: 07557 352592 copies each month from the back of St James' Church. for either warden: [email protected] If all the spare copies have gone then please ask - we will be pleased to help. VERGER: John Milton Tel: 01244 325529 Thank you for reading our magazine. We hope you enjoy it. Feedback is always welcome so please let the ST JAMES' CHURCH WEBSITE: editor know what you think about the magazine. https://www.stjameschristleton.org.uk ST JAMES ON TWITTER: Do also look at our church website for back copies of @StJChristleton this magazine and more information including a 'live' calendar. CHRISTLETON VILLAGE WEBSITE: www.christleton.org.uk EDITORIAL: I’ve no idea when there was last an ‘editorial’ in the magazine. We’re getting some good feedback about the magazine, and mostly it is praising the interesting and varied content we have. So thank you to all who contribute, and keep it coming. Thank you to all who subscribe or buy copies from church. Also to our paying advertisers. Over the year our magazine income exceeds our costs and this means that some months we can have extra pages, and sometimes even a bit of colour. DevaPrint in Guilden Sutton print the copies to a higher standard than we could do it ourselves, and have given us this good service since about June 2018. The current style of A4 magazine began in March 2018. I became editor and compiler for the February 2019 edition, initially in a temporary capacity, but of course I’m now a more permanent fixture! There is no-one else who edits and produces the magazine so when I’m away the magazine stops. Hence no September magazine, and this double August issue. We have been producing the magazine using MS Word software, but this has been proved rather tricky at times, so this issue uses MS Publisher and it looks to be a bit easier. The PCC Marketing & Communication Group, which among many other activities manages the magazine, would love to hear from people willing to assist with producing this magazine, or indeed other aspects of communications—eg: web, social media, mailshots, etc. Please contact me (see above) to find out more. Thank you. (Brian Inall) - 2 - RESTING We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new. As we move into August, many And yet it is the law of all progress families will enjoy a period of that it is made by passing through rest together. Of course, some stages of instability— tragically many others will not, and that it may take a very long time. and come under increased And so I think it is with you; pressures, not least, financial. your ideas mature gradually—let them grow, Thankfully, many churches and let them shape themselves, without undue haste. other organisations seek to Don’t try to force them on, relieve these pressures, as though you could be today what time ourselves among them through our support of, for (that is to say, grace and circumstances example, our local food bank. Thank you for your acting on your own good will) continued support of it. will make of you tomorrow. Only God could say what this new spirit This whole idea of rest is, as you will know, an gradually forming within you will be. important biblical theme. A theme built into the Give Our Lord the benefit of believing fabric of our created order. We may read in that his hand is leading you, Genesis, how for six days God created, and on the and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself seventh day he rested. At a basic level then, we are in suspense and incomplete. created to regularly rest; not just for a week or two —Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ in a summer period or whenever else it might be. But regularly rest and pause. To reflect on our I notice how in my resting, I had been blessed by values and priorities, and to experience the another, for which I am deeply thankful. I had had a liberating freedom which rest gifts. little time to reflect on my values and priorities, and to experience the liberating freedom which rest I imagine we know something of how challenging gifts. this practice of rest is today. The general melee of busyness, materialism, and technology just some of I should like to share my gift with you. I pray as you the factors that might work to destroy it. I am also rest, and practice the discipline of rest into this acutely aware of how church communities are not summer and beyond, you too may be blessed, and immune from said challenges, often mimicking or become more aware of what God’s spirit is forming taking on the identity of the cultures they are in you and us as a community; that as tempting as it embedded within. is for us to become impatient with ourselves and each other, we may trust in the slow work of God. ………. I went off and rested at this point of the article with another ……….. With my love and prayers, I returned a day later, and couldn’t remember Stefan, Rector. where I was going with this article! But I was ___________________________ carrying words that had been shared with me. Words of prayer by Teilhard de Chardin called TREASURER'S ARTICLE: Patient Trust. After a gap of financial information, I Above all, trust in the slow work of God. am now able to provide 6 months data We are quite naturally impatient in everything for your perusal in absolute minutiae, to reach the end without delay. comparable to last year. However, I am We should like to skip the intermediate stages. really still in holiday mode so will only give you a few key points!! - 3 - The good news is that the contactless terminal is now I did once hear that information was power but I have to working properly and donations are appearing in the say having all this information and a great deal more account. We are in good company as I read in the only makes me feel powerless!!!! newspaper that York Minster has a contactless collection plate! The less good news is that the total collected is The question is, how do we control our spending while only £113 over the 3 months we have had it but it has taking on a programme of church development? been non functional for a high proportion of that time. I think the answer is that we plan it as carefully as So please encourage its use for visitors, especially at possible. wedding and funerals and raise the profile. You will understand that I thought of you a great deal I have been very encouraged by the accounts until while cruising up the Rhine recently, especially by the increase in some of the gorge towards Switzerland regular giving, bearing in mind our increase in parish – in particular when we share. came upon a beautiful building where the pub However, we are at a time of church development and doubles up as the church! change, so it will be important to keep a close watch on (See pic.) This is yet another our position as we reach out into the community. idea for our outreach team Although we have been up till now in the black on a to investigate…… Ring O’ monthly basis, we have had significant expenses this Bells, here we come! year and especially recently. Thank you all so very much for your regular and irregular Donations: donations which make it all possible! £5,291 (2018); £1,729 (2019) Planned Giving (standing orders+ envelopes) Liz McClure £19,323 (2018) £22,085 (2019) Parish hall net income: ___________________________ £9,053 (2018) £5,125 (2019) Parish Magazine net income: £1,928 (2018) £1,519 (2019) TIME AND TIDE WAIT FOR NONE: Funeral/weddings net income: £9,208 (2018) £7,561 (2019) Easter Sunday last, Jan and I attended the service of Holy Overall deficit after 6 months: Communion in the tiny church of All Saints on Bryher, £3,788 (2018) £7,322 (2019) the smallest of the Isles of Scilly (population approximately 70).